you a labour, and further your design, yea I publish your praise, and glory, but my own disgrace and shame; but if a mistake, and falsehood, I shall then hereby give occasion unto your faithful friends (whose words may be of more prevailing power, and force than mine, through prejudice for present, are like to be) to tell you friendly, and yet plainly, that you do but glory in your shame, so that the time may come, if so be the will of God, that you may smite upon your thigh, and say within yourselves, what fruit had we then of those things, whereof we are now ashamed; neither let it be offensive to your spirits to see my testimony for which thing sake among you we were shamefully entreated, being also strangers to you and belonging to another jurisdiction where and by whose means divers of you, and yours, and such as have been of chiefest note, and most highly esteemed by you, have enjoyed curtesies with far greater liberties in point of conscience no man gainsaying: let it not offend I say to see this testimony when none of you (upon the oft repeated motion) would come forth to oppose it, then to be made yet more publick, and by the word of God, and testimony of Christ Jesus the Lord to be brought forth into the open view of all, confirmed and justifyed: neither take it ill that sith I could not with freedom, and upon equal terms speak with you, and discuss these points for which we have been sentenced, that then I have made bold to write unto you some few lines, that thereby I might remind you (least you let it slip) that we were brought before you as by a hand from beneath, so not without a speciall, and good hand from above, and that to be a testimony against you in these two weighty particulars; first to bear testimony against your standing with respect to the worship of God appointed by Christ, which in plain terms (for it is not now a time to dissemble seeing the Lord is at hand) is false, and evil, not the order of the Gospel of Christ as you pretend, and therefore disorder, confusion, and that, which in Scripture language is called Babel; And secondly to bear testimony, or witness against that way by which you maintain it, which being chiefly as it appears by carnal weapons, which cannot reach to the heart or spirit of a man, which is the principal part,

and upon the point the whole in the worship of God, without which there is no acceptance with him, this I say must needs also be fals, but yet far worse, it being no way appointed, or approved of Christ, nor yet groundedly expected or practised by Christians who first trusted in Christ, and therefore upon due examination will prove most unchristian, yea Antichristian; I shall use but these two arguments in this place to convince you, The first whereof standeth thus.

That order, and way to mantain it which neither hath precept from Christ, and his Apostles in his last will and testament, nor yet president, or example among those that first trusted in Christ, that order cannot be the order of the Gospel of Christ, nor that way his way to maintain it.

But the order which you call the order of the Gospel of Christ, and the way which you say is his way to maintain it, hath neither precept, nor president in his last will and testament.

The first proposition I suppose none of you can deny, unless you can find a later than that which is called his last will and testament, and as for the second the truth thereof, will as easily appear if you bring your order, and way to maintain it to the precept of Christ, and practise of those that first trusted in him; and first for your order, what precept from Christ, or practise among those that first trusted in him have you for baptizing of infants (who are declared to be but flesh and by nature the Children of wrath one as well as another :) for rantising and sprinkling them, and not baptizing or dipping them; for accepting such as were sprinkled with superstitious hallowed water, and by the hand of as superstitious consecrated a ministery of Antichrist, and for receiving of such as are sprinkled by yourselves to the ordinance of Baptism as you call it, but yet to deny them communion in the Apostles doctrine, and in breaking of bread: And if you cannot find either precept from Christ or his Apostles, or example among those that first trusted in Christ for none of these, then will you be at loss for the rest, and neither, find precept or president for your joining together, or for your imitation of those that first trusted in him in their ministery of continuance together in the Apostles doctrine and

fellowship and breaking of bread, and prayer. And touching your way to maintain it, what have you a precept and president in the last will and testiment of Christ for such a gathering together with respect to the order of the Gospell of Christ in the name, and by the leave of the Magistrate, so as to make it a thing unlawful for the servants of Christ to do it, without him, by the civil sword to correct errour, heresies, and all false worships, to constrain all Church-members, and such also as are without (and so cannot but by you be looked upon to be without faith, without which it is impossible to please God) outwardly and hypocritically to conform to your worship, or to restrain them in like manner outwardly and hypocritically from enjoying their own, when according to that rule (to which is annexed the promise of peace to such as walk thereby) the greatest Apostacies and Blasphemies (that unpardonable sin itself not excepted) were but punished with a delivery of the person that was guilty thereof unto Satan the God of this world, that he might learn not to blaspheme the God of heaven, and so to leave him to the coming of the Lord who shall come in flaming fire to render vengeance upon such; and so much is signified by the word Anathema Maranatha. And I pray consider whether this be not to place the Magistrate too high, or too low; too high in case you make him the chief, and upon the point the only Judge in spiritual things (such as appertain to the mystery of godliness that is so great, and such as belong to the mystery of the Kingdome of Christ, that is so wonderful) so as to judge, and determine what is truth, and what is error and heresie, what is the right way of the worship of God who being a spirit hath declared that he will be worshipped in spirit, and in truth, and what is not; who are the worshippers he seeks for, and who are such as his soul abhors? and again too low in case you make him but the executioner only of other mens judgements; which indeed is the ordinary practise. And so I have done with the first argument; the second stands thus.

2. Arg. That order, and way to maintain it which is not only different from, but contrary unto the precept of Christ in his last will and testament, and the practise of

Christians that first trusted in him, that order cannot be the order of the Gospel of Christ, nor that way his way to maintain it. But the order which you call the order of the Gospel of Christ, and the way which you say is his way to maintain it, is not only different from but contrary unto the precept of Christ, and the practise of Christians that first trusted in him.

The first proposition is undeniable, and the second will easily appear to be true if your order, and that way by which you seek to maintain it be brought to and compared with the precept of Christ, and his Apostles, and the example of those churches that first trusted in him; and first compare but your order with either precept, or president; and it will evidently appear not only to be differing from, but contrary unto the order of the Gospel of Christ: for according to the precept of Christ every creature to whom the Gospel was to be preached was by the preaching thereof to be made a disciple before he was to be baptized, and then being so made, and baptized he was to be taught to observe all things which Christ had commanded, which was in reference to a sober, righteous, and godly conversation in the order of his house, according to which precept was the practise of those that first trusted in him, for they, and they only that gladly received the word of salvation by Jesus Christ were baptized, Acts 2 and they, and all they that were baptized were joined without the leave of the Magistrate, and continued together steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine; and in fellowship, and breaking of bread and prayer: but your joining together not at the command of the Lord, but by the leave of the Magistrate, and your continuing together in imitation of the first Churches, and appointing a ministery before your selves be baptized, and so visibly planted into the death of Christ as they were; and your administring baptism (as you call it) to such as are not the true subjects thereof before they are taught, or made disciples; and after a false manner, viz. by sprinkling, which no way resembles the death, burial, or resurrection of Jesus Christ, being that which his baptisme is appointed to do; and your admitting some unto baptism (as you own it) which you refuse to admit unto breaking of bread, and

your receiving such to breaking of bread, which yet were never baptized with the baptism appointed by Jesus Christ the Lord; and your shutting out the exercise of the gift of prophecying, which in the Church of Christ doth admirably tend to edification; and your introducing a mixt confused way of singing which fills the ear rather with a loud sound of words, than the heart with any thing that is truly edifying, all which is not only differing from, but contrary unto both precept, and president, and so cannot be the order of the Gospel of Christ, and therefore is no better than disorder, confusion, and a part of that which in Scripture language is called Babell. And compare that way by which you maintain it, either with the precept of Christ or with the president of primitive Christians and it will as evidently appear not only to be different from, but contrary unto them both; for first the precept of Christ was to learn of him who was meek and lowly, and to expect trouble, and persecution from others, and not to persecute, neither to force the Jews that would not follow him, nor yet to fire the Samaritans that would not receive him, yea he expressely commands his Servants to let the tares alone with the wheat, and suffers no small inconvenience thereby to avoid a greater, and further declares that the servant of the lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach (not to strike) patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will; according to which precepts of Christ we find the primitive Christians were meek, and gentle, and yet able by sound doctrine both to exhort, and convince the gainsayers, who called not for carnall weapons to mannage their warfare, but declared their weapons were mighty through God, and either by the word and a good conversation wonne men to the acknowledgement of the truth as it is in Jesus, or else left them without excuse together with the world, unto the judgement of the great day of the Lord; but now all men may see that your way is not only different from, but contrary unto this precept of Christ and president of Christians, and therefore cannot